“The bicycle has a soul. If you succeed to love it, it will give you emotions that you will never forget.”
—Mario CIpollinni
My 25-mile roundtrip bike ride began along the Los Gatos Creek Trails, where one can see turtles sunning themselves on rocks in the creek, scrub jays and squirrels gathering acorns for the winter, a great egret wading in the water looking for fish, geese, and ducks lounging over the spillways, nests perched on tree branches, brush piles, and holes in the ground, any one of which can be a home for an animal in-the-wild. In fact, wildlife use this unbroken creek corridor as a natural highway, just as bicyclists like myself use the adjacent mostly paved trails as a nature-driven refuge to energize our bodies and recharge our spirits.
Eventually, the trails lead to a series of wooden and paved pedestrian and bicyclists bridges that cut through the hidden path behind downtown Los Gatos. It continues to follow the creeks, shady underpasses, and wide dirt and gravel trails leading to Lexington Reservoir County Park, popular with people who enjoy hiking, running, and bicycling.
The reservoir loop as it’s called is a relatively moderate clockwise ride removed from the traffic that traces the outline of the Lexington Reservoir. In fact on this sunny weekday, there were hardly any cars or other bicyclists on the road. I practically had it all to myself except for a couple of motorcycle riders that whizzed by. I was in no rush. The journey is more important to me than the destination, and I love to make unplanned stops to take photos along the way. Aside from several hairpin turns there are a few notable climbs along the stretch of the ride, one of which is a short slope where the grade reaches approximately 20% for a couple of hundred feet.
I have grown accustomed to pausing at Dakota William Toy's roadside memorial. Dakota died in a tragic car accident on August 25, 1994. He was only 20 years old. He aspired to be an electrician like his dad and grandfather. His passions were cars, bike riding, and traveling. The memorial is lovingly tended with colorful flower baskets and a makeshift wooden cross. This time I noticed a small card with the word ‘Happy' imprinted on it (photo).
When I circled the reservoir to the other side, I entered a dirt road with great reservoir lake views and followed a young fisherman down a makeshift path which allowed me to make it to the water’s edge around a thousand feet away from the graffiti-filled underpinning of Highway 17. This was my final respite before retracing my way back home. The views were breathtaking. When I headed back towards the path I spotted the remnants of a yellow mylar birthday balloon with a string attached propped up on some ground cover with a smiley face (photo). The universe does have a sense of humor at times.
